Tamil Nadu is still reeling from the onslaught of the worst monsoon rains in a century, with several feet of flood water inundating roads in and around Chennai. The Army and Navy are in the city to join in the rescue operations, Chennai airport has been shut at least till Thursday evening and several other transport facilities in the city have come to a standstill.

The calamity, however, has also brought out thousands of helping hands. On Tuesday, Chennai residents took to Twitter to offer their homes to strangers seeking shelter from the rain and floods. Images and videos celebrating helpful Samaritans were soon uploaded, like this video of a group of men forming a human chain to save another man from drowning after his bike skidded:



On Wednesday, help came forth from various quarters, from offers to distribute food to the opening up of public spaces for shelter.



Despite the breakdown of transport, some people made an effort to continue providing their regular services.

The hashtag #ChennaiRainsHelp soon became a space for both seeking and offering help.






Animals were not forgotten.

Meanwhile, residents continued to tweet images of the severity of the flood situation in the city,





In the Kotturpuram area, stranded resident Ranvir Ranjit sent these images of the street outside his building to Scroll.in.